Tree Appendix · A Source for Every Name

A Source for Every Name: The Tree Appendix

Next to every name: how we know it

The database principle: no name without a source. In the tables below, every person is accompanied by a "Source" column that points precisely to the memoir chapter (linked to Project Ben-Yehuda) or to the external source from which the detail is known. Rating: primary source (AZR's own writings) · inference (combination of sources) · secondary source · undocumented.
This is the documented appendix of "AZR's Family Tree and Lineage"; return there for the visual tree and the overall picture.

AZR Himself

Name	Details	Source
Alexander Ziskind son of Tsvi-Hirsh Rabinovitz	Born 24 Shevat 5614 (1854) in Lyady; died 5705 (1945), Tel Aviv.	primary source "His Life Story Written by Himself"; "Lyady". Archival corroboration: JewishGen, Gorki conscription record 1875 (#150, "Zys'kind ben Girsha, Lyady"); Tidhar vol. 1, p. 254.

The Paternal Line (Tsirlis / Rabinovitz)

Name	Relation · Details	Source
Tsvi-Hirsh ("Hirshe Tsirlis")	The father. A peddler; died at about 41.	primary source "Grandma Tsirli" ("my father – Hirshe Tsirlis"); "My Parents". Corroboration: JewishGen 1875 ("son of Hirsh"); Tidhar.
R. Nissan ("Nissan Tsirlis")	Paternal grandfather. One of Lyady's notables; completed the entire Talmud every 3 years; died of cholera on Isru Chag 5627 (October 1866).	primary source "My Grandfather R. Nissan"; "Grandma Tsirli"; "Among Hasidim".
Tsirli ("di bobe Tsirli")	Paternal grandmother (his father's mother). A midwife and charitable woman; the origin of the matronymic "Tsirlis."	primary source "Grandma Tsirli" ("my father's mother… and after her my grandfather Nissan Tsirlis and my father Hirshe Tsirlis were also named").
R. Nissan's father: "Khvavna" (Хлавна)	Paternal great-great-grandfather line — the missing generation, now located.	documented His name "Khvavna" (Хлавна) is documented in the 1858 revision list of the Jews of Lyady (NIAB ф.2151 / оп.1 / д.154) and verified from archival documents (see "The Lyady 1858 Revision List" and "The Russian Sources").

The Maternal Line: Her Father's Side (Brook)

Name	Relation · Details	Source
Golda (Golda-Chaya)	The mother. "A learned woman."	primary source "My Parents"; Tidhar.
R. Yehuda Leib	Maternal grandfather (his mother's father).	primary source "Teacher and Bookseller" and "Tales of the First" ("my grandfather, my mother's father, R. Yehuda Leib").
R. Alexander Ziskind Brook	The maternal grandfather's father. AZR was named after him.	primary source "Uncle R. Yitzhak" ("my mother's great-grandfather [lit. my grandfather's father on my mother's side] R. Alexander Ziskind son of R. Meir Brook of Lyady").
R. Meir Brook	Father of R. Alexander Ziskind Brook (an early forebear from Lyady).	primary source "Uncle R. Yitzhak".
inference	That R. Yehuda Leib is the son of R. Alexander Ziskind Brook, from combining "my mother's father" + "the great-grandfather on my mother's side." Very likely, but never stated explicitly.

The Maternal Line: Her Mother's Side (Sheveliov)

Name	Relation · Details	Source
[name undocumented]	Maternal grandmother (his mother's mother). A daughter of the Sheveliov family.	name undocumented Her family affiliation is documented: "A Family Feud" (daughter of Menachem-Mendel Sheveliov).
Menachem-Mendel Sheveliov	Father of the maternal grandmother (his mother's mother's father).	primary source "A Family Feud" ("Menachem-Mendel… the father of my mother's mother").
Yechiel Sheveliov	Father of Menachem-Mendel (early forebear of the distinguished Sheveliov family of Lyady).	primary source "A Family Feud" ("the sons of Yechiel Sheveliov").
Tsvi Sheveliov ("Hershel Leshes")	Son of Yechiel, brother of Menachem-Mendel (a collateral relative). The richest man in the townlet, leaseholder of the tavern and the tax farm.	primary source "A Family Feud" ("Tsvi Sheveliov grew great in his wealth… Hershel Leshes").
Ze'ev	Eldest son of Tsvi Sheveliov (a collateral relative), known for his voice in the study house.	primary source "A Family Feud" ("his eldest son Ze'ev").

His Wife and Descendants

Name	Relation · Details	Source
Henya-Leah	His first wife. Worked with him in the bakery in Belgorod.	primary source "Teacher and Bookseller" / "Tales of the First" ("my first wife Henya-Leah, of blessed memory").
Tsvi (son)	A son. Apprenticed to a coppersmith and to carpentry, and finally to playing the violin.	primary source "Social Influences" / "Tales of the First".
Eliyahu (son)	A son. Born in Moscow (Uncle R. Yaakov was the sandak).	primary source "In Moscow" / "Tales of the First".
Michael (son)	A son. Lived in Sejera (1917) and arranged to bring AZR to him at the time of the expulsion.	primary source "From the Recent Past".
Miriam Pfeffer (daughter)	A daughter (1892–1966). In the Wikipedia entry "Pfeffer"; on Geni "Sapir/Sefer."	secondary source Wikipedia / Geni (not verified in AZR's writings).
Binyamin Azar (son)	A son from the second marriage (to Chaya); 1910–1981; worked at the Ministry of Labor.	secondary source Wikipedia; verified family documentation.

Uncles and Additional Family Members

Name	Relation · Details	Source
Dov-Ber ("Bereh")	Uncle; mentally ill (~23), kept chained.	primary source "Uncle Bereh".
R. Yaakov	Uncle; a shochet (ritual slaughterer) in Moscow; sandak of his son Eliyahu.	primary source "In Moscow".
R. Yitzhak Rosenfeld	Uncle; a merchant in Vitebsk → railway contractor; son of R. Shmuel Rosenfeld (from the chapter "A Family of Writers"). Helped AZR move to Poltava.	primary source "Uncle R. Yitzhak".
R. Yitzhak (Khiminoar)	Uncle; a Misnaged Torah scholar who was honored at the Rebbe's table. ≠ R. Yitzhak Rosenfeld.	primary source "Among Hasidim".
Rivka	"My aunt"; daughter of R. Alexander Ziskind Brook; wife of R. Yitzhak Rosenfeld (after a divorce from the Markovitz family).	primary source "Uncle R. Yitzhak".

Methodological distinctions: (1) Precise relationships that AZR does not spell out are not asserted (for example, the exact position of "my aunt Rivka"). (2) The name "R. Yitzhak" appears for two different uncles, kept distinct. (3) The missing generation in the paternal line (R. Nissan's father) has been located and verified: his name "Khvavna" (Хлавна), from the Lyady 1858 revision list. (4) The limit of the maternal line: R. Meir Brook (the Brook line) and Yechiel Sheveliov (the Sheveliov line) are the last forebears whose names are documented; there is no source for their fathers' names, and any further depth depends on the Lyady revision lists (NIAB). See "AZR's Lineage, Full Summary" and "The Russian Sources".